Saturday, November 23, 2013

The Visual And Design Explosion That Is The LA Auto Show

Downtown Los
Angeles skyline at night and in black and white as a graphic backdrop in
the KIA booth. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

The Visual And Design Explosion That Is The LA Auto Show

Another year is in the books and it is time to kick off the 2014
automobile show season with the event that starts the debut and sales
cycle all over again ... the Motor Press Guild hosted Press Days for the
LA Auto Show.

This edition has a few design and booth highlights of note that include
the bringing forward of a radically artful concept body design to the
streets (if this ever happens, it is usually toned way down), a second
look at mid-century luxury design in a hard top two-door (that had a
dealer from Valencia, California chanting to the designers at the booth
to "JUST BUILD IT"), a full 3-D car sculpture not intended to advance
automobile design on the road but on the HD screen of a game console,
and lastly, an artful booth presentation that featured two string
instrument performers (violin and cello) playing classic rock-n-roll
hits from Guns and Roses to the Doors.

There's little doubt that the 2015 BMW i8
is one of the most radical and groundbreaking performance cars this
industry has seen in a long time. From its unique carbon-intensive
construction to its 1.5-liter, three-cylinder and electric motor plug-in
powertrain to its concept-car originated appearance (below in 2009), the flagbearer for BMW's new i
venture challenges the very notion of what it takes to be a supercar. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

BMW introduced a radical concept body design at the LA Auto Show a
couple of years ago that became a bit of a signature, but no one thought
this sculpted approach would ever see the pavement of the stree of the
light of the sun until the announcement of the new BMW iDrive.

Elmiraj advances the Cadillac philosophy of provocative modern design and
engaging rear-wheel drive performance, with a 4.5-liter twin
turbocharged V8 delivering an estimated 500 hp. The engine takes the
baseline technology from the Cadillac Twin Turbo V6 and expands it to
the classic performance format of a V8 engine. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Cadillac
has been flirting with design in a different direction - away from the
radical arch around a wheel element - to the simplicity of American
mid-century modern inspired design (first shown a couple of years ago
with the Ciel Concept, pronounced “C-L,” the French word for sky, a
four-seat convertible) that is seeing a strong revival in homes,
furniture, and now ... cars.

Interior
Design Manager, Gael Buzyn as he poses for photos while sitting in a
cockpit designed with special egress features for the passenger who will
ride in the back seat ... both bucket seats on each side move to aid in
the human motion of entering and exiting the Elmiraj rear cabin. Image
Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

A modern update to the classic format of a two-door grand coupe, Elmiraj
Concept provides a look inside the Cadillac Studio/North Hollywood to
see how the designers envision performance and luxury for the next
generation of luxury drivers. The long dash-to-axle front profile, a
Cadillac signature, gives the coupe a performance-oriented form. The
long wheelbase and clean bodyside characterizes the car’s spacious
dimensions and elevated status.

An interesting observation at the stand was that this Elmiraj Concept display
was directly across from the Bentley booth with all of their well-over $100,000 to
$300,000-plus cars and most everyone who stopped to take in the view, had
their backs toward the Bentley display.

Mercedes-Benz designers came up with the AMG Vision Gran Turismo Concept for a starring role in the PlayStation 3 racing game, Gran Turismo 6.
But like Pinocchio, the folkloric wooden toy that came to life, the
Vision Concept, or something like it, may sooner rather than later
become a real-life model in the Mercedes lineup. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Mercedes-Benz design in Sunnyvale, California used the occasion of the
LA Auto Show to dazzle attendees with a full scale creation of a digital
car, AMG Vision GT Concept, that will be featured as a supercar in the
Gran Turismo 6 video game.

The really tragic thing, other than the obvious time and expense put
forward on this artful motor culture display for just the promotion of a
video game, this particular AMG Vision GT Concept will never see the
light of day or a street ... it is not a car.

"This is the future of Mercedes-Benz design," Gorden Wagener, vice
president for design at Daimler, said as he introduced the car at the
Los Angeles Auto Show, where Motor Press Guild hosted Press Days began on Wednesday,
simultaneous with its unveiling at the Tokyo motor show. "This car, or
elements of it, will make its way into production."

The slideshow
of images showing California icons was inspiring - Griffith Observatory
image as it appeared in the KIA tradeshow stand. Image Credit: Edmund
Jenks (2013)

KIA used its stage to introduce the world to its new full sized K900
four-door sedan. In the lead up to the presentation, however, the Press
Days attendees were treated to a rather sublime concert of very hard
rock songs with the twist of being performed with the delicate tones
delivered through a violin and a cello accompanied by a slideshow of
iconic images of California (from the Golden Gate Bridge to Griffith
Observatory) that was projected through a very wide landscape format
jumbo-tron with the image first projected in Black & White then
fading into a Full Color version.

The Korean automaker unveiled the all-new K900, a large sedan that
will offer the space and trappings of German land yachts, while
undercutting their prices by tens of thousands of dollars.

"This is our
boldest statement yet," said Tom Loveless, executive vice president of
sales for Kia. "It's a true flagship sedan that symbolizes how far we've
come, and we believe it will make you question everything you thought
you knew about Kia."